Panoramic tilting device.



E. SCHNEIDER.

PANORAMIC TILTING DEVICE.

APPLlcArmN FILED Aue.23. |916.

19%14922@ Patented Jan. 30,191?.

EBEnHAnD 'SCHNEIDERY or NEW YORK, N. Y.

PANOBAMIC TILTING DEVICE.

Specigcatiou of Letters Patent.

Fatented Jan. 36, 1911 7.

Application led August 23, 1916. Serial No. 116,537.

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, EBERHARD SCHNEIDER, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Panoramic Tilting Devices, of which the following is a specification.

The invention relates to adjustable supports, for example as panoramic tilting devices whereby the object to be carried may be tilted in a vertical plane as well as rotated in a horizontal plane. 1n a prior patent, U. S. Patent #1,150,304, granted me the 17th day of August 1915, 1 have disclosed means for eecting such movements; and the present invention has for its object to effect the several rotations by means of an actuating member common to both, instead of by two distinct and separately operated mechanisms, as set forth in said patent.

The device herein disclosed issimple and inexpensive in construction, e'ificient in operation and may serve to carry, for example, a motion picture machine, stereopticon lantern or the like, permitting of their adjustment in both 'a vertical and a horizontal plane.

A further object of the invention is to provide means for automatically taking up any lost motion or wear, thereby obviating any tremors and insuring a smooth action.

In the accompanying drawings which illustrate the invention, Figurel is a side elevation of the support carrying a camera, as one device for which it is particularly adapted. Figs. 2 and 3 are fragmentary detail views, partly in section. Fig. 4 is a vertical section taken on the line 4-4, Fig. 1. 'j

Similar characters of reference designatev corresponding parts throughout the several views. v

Referring to the drawings, 10 designates a suitable stand or tripod upon which the support forming the subject of the present invention may be fastened in any well known manner. The said adjustable support consists 0f a base plate 11 to which is attached, asby means of a screw 12 with interposed spring washer 13, a suitable frame 14 to retain the mechanism. r1`his frame is provided at the top with a plate or platform 15 o1' the like to which the object to be supported, herein shown and described as a camera 16, may be attached in any well known manner. The plate 15, however, is not rigidly secured to the frame 14, but is secured to a horizontally disposed shaft 17 which is rotatably mounted in the said frame to permit of tilting the plate as the shaft is rotated. To effect this movement of the shaft 17 necessary to tilt the plate, the former is arranged to carry a segmental gear 18 which meshes with a worm 19 loosely mounted on an actuating shaft or spindle 20 to which it is adapted to be locked. Shaft 20 is designed to receive at either end an yactuating crank or handle 21 for controlling the position of the object to be carried by the support. 1t is, furthermore, mounted in the walls of a casing 22 of the frame k,14 in such a manner as to be longitudinally adjustable with respect thereto in addition to being rotatable therein. By drawing the said shaft outwardly, for example a pin 23 may be caused to enter aslot 24 in the outer end of an extending sleeve portion of the said worm 19 to effect the latters rotation as the shaft is turned by the opera-tor through handle 21. To disengage the worm, it is necessary merely to advance the shaft inwardly and release the pin from its slot.

v 1n addition to the worm 19, there is similarly mounted on the shaft 2O a worm 25 which is in` mesh with a horizontal worm wheel 26 ixedly secured to the base plate 11. By moving inwardly the said shaft 20', a pin 27 thereon is caused to engage a slot 28 in an extending sleeve portion of the worm 25; and when the handle 21 is turned, thereby to rotate the worm wheel 26 and effect relative rotation between the said base plate 11 and the frame 14 about a vertical aXis. In thus engaging either one or the other of the two worms, a movement of the supported object 16 may be effected either in a vertical plane or in a horizontal plane; and the change from one to the other motion may be brought about without inconveniencing the operator.

To accommodate for any lost motion or wear, it is preferred to mount the shaft 20 in floating bearings 30 and 31 which are carried in the end walls of casing 22. rl.`he said bearings are adapted to be engaged on two sides, that is to say in directions at right angles to each other, by the respective ends of two flat springs 32 and 33 which are secured to the outer side and the bottom of said casing, substantially at the middle portions of saidfsprings.' The shaft with worms 19 and 25 thereon is thus forced toward the segmental gear 18 and the worm wheel 26 respectively, whereby any lost motion or wear will be; automatically takenup.

I claim:

1. A panoramic tilting device, comprising a frame, a supporting platform mounted therein, a base for said frame and platform, means to rotate said frame relatively to said base, means to rotate said platform relatively to said frame, and a rotatable shaft common to said two rotation means to engage one or the other thereof and adapted l to effect the corresponding-rotation.

2. A panoramic tilting device, comprising a frame, a supporting platform mounted therein, a base for said frame and platform,`

means to rotate said' frame relatively to said base about a vertical axis, means to rotate said platform relatively to said frame about a horizontal axis, and a rotatable shaft comlmon to said two rotation means and adaptved to engage one or the other thereof to efgagement between said actuating shaft and either one of the said worms.

4:. A panoramic tilting device, comprising a frame, a supporting platform and a horizontal shaft rotatably mounted in said frame and upon which said platform is secured, a vertically disposed segmental gear with worm'teeth and movable with said l shaft, a base for said frame and a horizontal worm wheel attached thereto,a horizontal actuating shaft slidablyv mounted in said frame, two worms independently mountedl I on said actuating shaft and adapted toengage respectively the said segmental gear and the said worm wheel, means to rotate said actuating shaft, andv key pins oppositely disposed on said actuating shaft designed to engage corresponding slots on the respective worms as the shaft is moved in one direction or the other.

5. A panoramic tilting device, comprising a frame, a supporting platform mounted therein, a base for said frame andplatform, means to rotate said frame relatively to said base, means to rotate said platform relatively to, said frame, actuating means common to said rotation means to engage one or the other thereof to effect the corresponding rotation, and resilient means acting upon said rotation means to take up automatically lost motion and wear of same.

6. A panoramic tilting device, comprising a frame, a supporting platform and a horizontal shaft rotatably mounted in said frame and upon which said platform is secured, a vertically disposed segmental gear with worm teeth and movable with said shaft, a base for said frame and a horizontal worm wheel attached thereto, a horizontal actuating shaft and means to rotate same, suitable floating bearings for the actuating shaft in said frame, two worms independently mounted on said actuating shaft and adapted to engage respectively the said segmental gear and the said worm wheel, means to effect engagement between said actuating shaft and either one of the said worms, and resilient means secured to said frame acting against the said bearings to force the actuating shaft and worms in the direction 'of the segmental gear and worm wheel respectively.

7. A panoramic tilting device, comprising a frame, a supporting platform and a horizontal shaft rotatably mounted in said frame and upon which said platform is secured, a vertically disposed segmental gear with worm teeth and movable with said shaft, a base for said frame and a horizontal worm wheel attached thereto, a casing secured to said frame, floating bearings in the ends of same, and actuating shaft mounted in Isaid bearings to be longitudinally adjustable with respect to the said casing, means to rotate the actuating shaft, two worms independently mounted on said actuating shaft and adapted to engage respectively the said segmental gear and the said worm wheel, means to effect engagement between said actuating shaft and either one of said worms, and flat springs secured to the casing and acting against said bearings to force'the'actuating shaft and worms in the direction of the segmental gear and worm wheel respectively.

Signed at New York in the county of New York and State of ew York, this 17th day of August, A. D. 1916.

EBERHARD sCHrusrnER. 

